Mandatory diversity training, hiring tests and performance ratings that managers can thwart, and grievance systems are control tools designed to preempt lawsuits by policing managers’ thoughts and actions – studies show these techniques can activate bias instead of reducing it. Successful diversity programs apply 3 basic principles: engage managers in solving the problem, expose them to people from different groups, and encourage social accountability for change. Diversity task forces or committees accomplish all 3.

Hispanic Public Relations practitioners tell the Public Relations Society of America about common diversity and inclusion mistakes they experience in organizations, and suggest ways companies can improve including:

Recognize Hispanics come from a diversity of backgrounds, cultures, perceptions and languages; don't expect an individual Hispanic employee to be an authority on the entire group.

Consider each individual’s talents. Don’t pigeonhole Hispanic professionals into roles that only involve interfacing with Hispanic audiences or speaking Spanish.

Remember many Hispanics are multi-generation Americans and are not native Spanish speakers.

Acknowledge the unique challenges that being both a woman and Black creates.

Address lack of sponsorship for Black women, who have plenty of mentors and strong networks but lack advocates in positions of power.

Overcome the "identity siloes" that many workplaces have, encouraging networks that bring people together to build relationships across all kinds of difference and facilitating Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to focus on the intersections of multiple identities.

Deeper change in societal culture is needed around the globe to achieve inclusion of women, and we know from research that, as this change progresses, labor force participation of women rises benefiting economic growth. Take the example of the Philippines: the country ranks 9th for women’s participation in the economy, education, health and politics, according to the 2014 World Economic Forum. However, only half of working-age women are in the labor force, compared to 80% for men and, of the 14 million women employed, only 50% of them are salaried workers. The rest are either self-employed, or working in a family business or farm.

Under a proposed EEOC rule, U.S. employers with more than 100 employees will be required to report pay equity information along with their 2017 EEO-1 filings. EEO-1 reports have historically been due in September; however, the EEOC will move the timing of EEO-1 filings to March 2018 to enable employers to use calendar year 2017 payroll data. For any company not already regularly analyzing pay equity among their workforce, it's not too early to begin a review process to prepare for this filing.